Proposed bill aims to protect people from stalkers

By
KBJR News 1

June 4, 2014Updated Jun 5, 2014 at 10:53 AM CDT

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) --- U.S. Senator Al Franken is still working to get a bill passed to make people safer from stalkers.

Franken, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, held a hearing this week on his bill that is designed to give consumers privacy regarding their location information.

The updated bill would make it illegal to have stalker apps placed on your smartphone without your knowledge.

It would also require companies to obtain permission before collecting location data from people's smartphones, tablets, or in–car navigation devices, and to reveal what they do with that information.

“A woman in St. Louis County, who was being abused, went to a county building where there was a domestic violence center, and while she was there, she got a text on her smartphone from her abuser, saying why are you at the county building?” U.S. Senator, Al Franken, said.

Franken says the Stalker App allows scenarios like this to happen all too often.

"So it's happening all the time. I've had numerous cases over the years where this was the case,” Anoka County Detective, Brian Hill, said.

Franken hopes the bill makes it to the congress floor once he reintroduces it again.